Beans, Beans They're Good for Your Hormones

And your heart too, I guess 🫘

Since 2024, I have been suffering constantly from perimenopause. I have been taking birth control continuously for almost two years, plus countless other drugs and supplements to manage the symptoms.

I always seemed to be in some sort of pain or discomfort that would come out of nowhere. Severe dryness, constant nausea, body aches, exhaustion, mood swings... it was affecting everything from work to travel and simply being able to enjoy the company of others.

By the end of 2025, I was ready to try something new. I was waiting for my new health insurance to kick in before I switched over from birth control to Menopausal Hormone Therapy. But then I heard about #BeanTok — aka all these perimenopausal women on TikTok documenting their journey eating two cups of a beans for 30 days and magically transforming their lives. It sounded too good to be true. But at that point, I was too desperate to be skeptical. And I really like beans, so adding them to my daily diet didn’t sound unappealing.

And so it began. I did mention the beans a few times here, but I didn’t want to publicly share my full experience until the month was up.

Well, TLDR, the beans worked! This was a text I sent my friend Lily Diamond when I began. (BTW Lily just launched Lilith Lit, aka the coolest virtual book club for women, right here on Substack — I got a sneak peek at all the bestselling authors who will join her in conversation, and am really excited).

Unfortunately, that ten-hour night of sleep was a first-week thing (more on that below) but for the most part, eating beans has indeed been miraculous. I’m almost embarrassed that I’m going to sound as snake-oil-y to all of you as those women on TikTok sounded to me. But I also am in disbelief that I’m no longer suffering… I don’t even feel the need to switch my hormonal therapy!

So here I am, officially on the Bean train. Just like this dog I saw at The Grove.

I’m uncomfortable going into the science behind all of this — not only because I’m not an expert/medical professional but also because my history with eating disorders makes me cautious sharing any kind of diet advice... basically google “Karen Hurd” and “The Bean Protocol” if you’re interested.

I myself wasn’t curious enough to go beyond simply adding two cups of beans (I stuck to lentils, white beans, black beans, kidney, chickpeas, edamame — apparently might not be okay on the protocol, but again, didn’t do the research) to everything from soups, salads, my daily oatmeal and Ninja Creami. The photo in the middle is a black bean “brownie” recipe AI helped me come up with — basically mash/blend together half cup black beans, 2 TB applesauce, 1.5 TB monk fruit sugar, 1/4 TSP baking powder, dash salt, and 1.5 TB cocoa powder until smooth, then microwave for 1.5 to 2 minutes until set. It goes great with the protein ice cream!

After 30 days, I was feeling so good that I went off the antidepressants and prescription dry eye drops I’ve been on for over a year with no relapses.

I know I sound like I’m trying to sell you something — but if you think about it, I’m only selling you beans! Which are insanely cheap, especially if you buy them dried. I do recommend a pressure cooker though, because then you don’t even have to soak them (I’m using this one).

I know there’s a metaphor for Jack and the Beanstalk somewhere here.

I’ll try to talk more about this in a future Gen X Taste podcast with my co-host Christy Meyers, since she is a holistic health coach. But if you want to listen to her initial reaction to this bean diet, she shares more about her theory behind why this might work from a nutritional POV below.

I will say that the one thing I was truly hoping the beans would fix — that they didn’t — was waking up constantly throughout the night. I am usually able to get back to sleep, though, and am averaging 7-8 hours (sadly not the ten that I experienced the first week) which still makes me very happy. I will also say that I did try cutting down to 1 cup after 30 days to see if I still felt as good, and I definitely did not. So I’m back up to the full 2 cups again, and back to my bean-y self.

I even booked this audition. Was it the beans?!?

And finally, yes, there were some adjustments tummy-wise/gas-wise/etc. but those went away after a few weeks. I really don’t know if I’m going to be eating 2 cups of beans every single day until I’m past menopause but for now, if you’re coming to my house for dinner, expect a bean feast.¹

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1. I always wondered what Veruca Salt was singing about, until Catherine Newman wrote this post.